1. Field of the Invention
Illustrative embodiments described in this patent specification generally relate to an image forming apparatus employing an inkjet method or an electrophotographic method, such as a copier, a printer, a plotter, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction device having two or more of copying, printing, plotting, and facsimile capabilities, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus including a stacking unit on which a sheet fed from a sheet roll set to the image forming apparatus is stacked after the sheet having an image thereon is discharged from the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are known image forming apparatuses that form an image on a sheet fed from a continuous sheet roll supported by a sheet roll supporter disposed to a front side of the image forming apparatus. The sheet having the image thereon is then discharged to the front side of the image forming apparatus. Such image forming apparatuses are often provided with a dedicated discharge guide member disposed above the sheet roll supporter, such that the sheet having the image thereon discharged from the image forming apparatus is prevented from contacting the sheet roll on which no image has yet been formed. However, because the sheet roll is substantially exposed to the outside of the image forming apparatus, dust may adhere to the sheet roll, thereby degrading both sheet feeding and image quality. To solve the above problem, the sheet roll is completely covered with a withdrawable sheet feed tray provided to the front side of the image forming apparatus so as to prevent adherence of dust to the sheet roll.
In addition, a detachable stacking unit on which the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus is stacked is often attached to the front side of the image forming apparatus to facilitate access to the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus.
However, although the sheet roll is securely protected from dust in the above-described example, a configuration of the sheet feed tray is complicated, thereby increasing production costs. Further, because a part of the sheet roll set to the sheet feed tray is positioned in front of a sheet discharger from which the sheet having the image thereon is discharged, a depth of the image forming apparatus is increased when a member such as the sheet feed tray that covers the sheet roll is provided, thereby increasing the overall size of the image forming apparatus.